??Whats the most & least powerful (HP) cars to win???

The Black Iron 5 series that won Altamont wasn't the same 5 series you saw at Buttonwillow- first was an E28, second was an E34 (or maybe even an E39- can't recall exactly and it's hard to tell from photos when the body is gone). The E28's engine made well under 200 horses.

The Black Metal V8olvo's engine came from an '86 Mustang GT, which was rated at around 200 horsepower. The Formula M For Mullet Mustang that won in the Spring '09 Texas race had a 347 stroker engine, allegedly installed by the redneck from whom the team bought the car, and I'm pretty sure it was putting out well over 200 horsepower (however, keep in mind that the second-place car was a four-cylinder Mustang- yes, with a Pinto engine- and it was the race leader until a last-second black flag cost precious minutes). Those are the only two 200+ horsepower overall winners I can think of.

We've had a couple of serious contenders who probably had more than 200 horses under the hood (e.g., the Punisher Racing Caprice and the Bikini Racer Camaro), but you're mostly going to see overall winners driving small cars with power in the 100-150 HP range.

The Police Brutality Mark VIII was obscenely fast at the last CMP race.  If they get their reliability problems fixed, and don't get crushed, I can easily see them on the podium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq6gf4NqV5g

Our 1995 Mercedes S600 was rated at 385hp when new. You all saw how competitive it was!

I'm guessing the very first winner - the 80s Corolla - probably had the lowest stock HP rating.

bam, our caged 325e weighs about 2400 lbs.

To take the overall win, a car must be able to run lap times better than at least 60% of the competition... which isn't hard to do. What is hard to do is assembling a team of drivers who know how to avoid penalties.

The surprise is that no team stacked with all-star great drivers has gone for the IOE. An AMC Pacer with the right drivers could get into the top 10, and that would mean a slam-dunk IOE win, with all attendant glory etc.

Our FX16 had 112hp brand new.  2200lb curb.  With a 7500rpm redline, it's a fun little econobox to throw around.  Driving penalty free, our rookie team most likely could have placed around 20th at thunderhill.

In the hands of better drivers, better pit changes, and a suspension that wasn't as loose as an LA porn star, I think it's definitely a contender. 

(we're more concerned about BBQ and beer though, so don't look for us at the top)

Yeah, having IOE and overall-win Lemons trophies in your garage would be like having a Nobel Prize and an Olympic gold medal in Rhythmic Gymnastics.

You listening, Eyesore?

We finished 7th at Stafford in the coROLLa (before the roll and head gasket implosion).  That car WILL BE BACK {with a junkyard head and 5 stupid drivers}!

I think SpeedyCop has said they will have a 5-speed tranny the next time out.  That should make a huge difference in their reliability.  If you watch their video from the last race you hear them back off the throttle early on the straights due to the automatic tranny I assumed.  Not having their engine sit on the redline the entire time should help a ton and they will be even faster with better gearing.  They drive a clean race (IME) too so I wouldn't be surprised to see them on the podium either assuming they have a little luck along with all that power.

The Gnome in winning configuration had under 100hp at the wheels.

The "problem" with the trans in the Mark is that we keep it locked in 2. It costs us on the very end of the long straights, but most of the race it's perfectly adequate. Keeps heat out of the trans and with the 32V motor screaming up past 6500rpm it's able to get up a fair bit of speed. We've got the 5-speed, we just need time, and another motor.